Taming the Wild Heart
by Kayapride
Summary: When Sakura accepted the job to train Queen Yelan's horses along with her father, she did not know that training wild hearts was part of the job subscription. SakuraxLi
1. Chapter 1

Taming The Wild Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

_Names of the horses and some of the training methods and descriptions of the horses belongs to Tamora Pierce, taken from her book The Immortals 1 Wild Magic_

CHAPTER 1 

It was a quiet night at one of the many stables situated in the Li kingdom; the only sounds that could be heard were that of Mother Nature and her animals and insects. The sound of a car interrupted the silence as it drove through the gate and came to a halt. The back door of the car opened and a young man climbed out. He wore a tailored suit and had the air of a businessman around him. He walked up to the main house and knocked on the door, the owner of the house opened the door and words were exchanged. The man pointed and the visitor nodded and left as the door closed.

Meanwhile, in a small cottage not far from the stables, a stable manager and horse trainer were busy having a nice peaceful dinner. They had just finished when they heard a sharp knock on the door. The manager stood up and left the trainer to clear away the table as he went to open the door.

"Lord Hiiragizawa!" The man cried out in surprise as he hurriedly bowed to the young man. "Please come in…" He stood aside to let Lord Eriol in.

"Forgive the intrusion, Mr. Kinomoto, but I have an urgent matter to discuss with you and your daughter." Eriol said as he walked into the small but cosy cottage.

"Certainly, Lord Hiiragizawa, please make yourself comfortable. Would you like some tea?" Mr. Kinomoto asked.

"That would be great, thank you."

"Sakura! Could you please make some tea for our guest?" Mr. Kinomoto called out.

"Sure! Just give me a minute." A girl answered from the kitchen as she grabbed some cups and saucers to make some tea.

Her honey coloured hair, tied in a messy braid was starting to come undone as she walked to and fro in the kitchen. She muttered something about getting her hair cut as she blew her fringe out of her eyes for the umpteenth time. When the tea was done she put everything on a tray and walked into the living room, where her father and their guest were talking quietly. The two men stood up as Sakura entered the room and Fujitaka took the tray from Sakura.

As he walked up to her, she couldn't help but notice the difference between the two men. Where her father is more relaxed in his manner and casual with what he wears and his face bronzed by the years of working in the sun, this stranger looks like your typical 'paper pushing junky' complete with the almost stiff body posture, fancy business suit and fair skin.

"Ah, and this must be your beautiful daughter Sakura." Eriol took Sakura's hand and lightly brushed his lips against her hands. "Your reputation for being one of the most gifted horse trainers perceives you, miss Kinomoto."

"Uuuuuhhhhh… thank you, I guess." Sakura replied a bit weary as she took back her hand and rubbed it on the back of her jeans. She looked at her dad with questioning eyes.

"Sakura, this is Lord Eriol Hiiragizawa. He is the advisor of Prince Li." Her father introduced him.

Sakura nodded in uncertainty but still remembered her manners as she bowed before the young man. "Good Evening Lord Hiiragizawa, and welcome to our house." She sat down and started to pour the tea for them.

"How do you like you tea, Lord Hiiragizawa?" Fujitaka asked.

"No sugar and a little bit of milk please." He answered. He thanked Sakura as she handed him the cup.

"Since you two are probably wondering what I'm doing here, I will get right down to business. As you have probably heard in the news, Queen Yelan had bought two wild new colts and we hired a horse trainer to train those horses, but the trainer was caught abusing the two horses and is currently in prison awaiting trial. Now usually our stable manger handles the hiring of the trainers, but unfortunately he died a couple of months ago, so we are currently without a manager and trainer." He paused for a while as he sipped his tea.

"Now that is where you come in. I have done extensive research about managers and trainers in the kingdom, and I have noticed that the name Kinomoto has a very high reputation and after talking personally with your previous employers I came up with very positive feedback. So what I am offering is, if you are interested, is a job opportunity at the palace stables as manager and trainer. You will have a two-week trial period in which we will evaluate your performance. If we are satisfied with how you handle the horses you will be offered a permanent position."

The father and daughter looked at each other, stunned. This was an amazing opportunity for both of them, but it just came so suddenly. Eriol noticed the looked between the two and let out a soft chuckle. "I know this is unexpected and sudden but please think it over. If you have any questions please do ask and I will answer them."

Sakura recovered first and cleared her throat. "I have a question, my lord. Where will we be staying and what arrangements will be made for my own horses?" She asked, her voice clear and confident.

"Well, you will both stay at the palace. We have a lovely house next to stables, where our previous manager lived. However, if you wish, you are more than welcome to stay in the palace. As for your horses, miss Kinomoto, there is more than enough stables open for them and you do not have to pay for the boarding of the horses and yourselves as it will be part of the benefits of your employment.

"You will be paid for the first two weeks whether or not you passed the evaluation and you will receive enough free time to do whatever you need to do. You will also receive a monthly budget for the overall managing of the stables. If you find that the some expenses go over the budget please do not hesitate to let me know and I will see what can be done."

Sakura studied her father's face as he mulled things over. It was a huge decision and as it involved Sakura as well, he had to be careful with his decision.

"When do you need to know our answer?" Fujitika asked.

"Well, we are a bit anxious for you answer, so as soon as possible."

Fujitika looked at his daughter. Sakura nodded her head and held her breath. This was a great opportunity and she didn't want to let it go. "Okay, we accept. When do you want us to come?"

"Well as soon as you have your things in order. Everything is prepared for your arrival." Eriol answered with a smile as he stood up. He held out his hand for Fujitika, who grasped it. The two men shook hands and Sakura opened the door for Eriol.

"Thank you very much for the opportunity." Sakura said as she bowed.

"No, thank you Miss Kinomoto, Mr. Kinomoto. You have no idea how much we appreciate your decision. And I truly hope that you will not regret your decision." And with that Eriol disappeared into the night.

"Well, looks like we are heading for the palace." Fujitika said as he looked at Sakura. Sakura nodded and let out a whoop as she embraced her father.

This is a new adventure for Sakura and an amazing opportunity for her father to make a name for himself and both are willing and able to live it.

**A/N: Okay so this is my first solo story for Card Captor Sakura. I do hope that you have enjoyed it. Please feel free to review the chapter. Constructive criticism is welcome. **

**I would also like to send out a special thank you for Tella, for helping me with my fic and always being there for me when I need her. If you do not know who Tella is, she is an amazing author. Her best fic so far is Happy Birthday To Me? and I urge everyone who has not yet read it, to go and read it NOW! **


	2. Chapter 2

Taming The Wild Heart 

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

_Names of the horses and some of the training methods and descriptions of the horses belongs to Tamora Pierce, taken from her book The Immortals 1 Wild Magic_

CHAPTER 2 

"You can not be serious, mother!" a young man shouted. His golden eyes blazed with anger and frustration.

"Calm down Syaoran! And yes I am very serious. As a prince and the heir to the throne you have certain duties to fulfil and one of them is to get married and to produce an heir." Queen Yelan answered calmly. She had expected this kind of a reaction from her son and was well prepared for it.

"But I'm not king yet so why should I worry about that now?"

Yelan looked down at her son in a strict manner. "Because once you are king, you will have greater responsibilities and you would not have the time to look for a wife. And I will not have you produce an heir out of wed lock."

"Come on mother, you know I am not that kind of person. I just cannot understand why I have to find a wife before my twenty-sixth birthday. That's just a year away from now." He blew a stray lock out of his eyes. "Are you really that anxious to step away from the throne?"

"My retirement has nothing to do with your situation, I still have a couple of years to go. I want you to find a wife before your twenty-sixth birthday or else I will force you into an arranged marriage. This discussion is finished. I am giving you a chance, do not waste it."

Li growled under his breath as he watched his mother leave, he still cannot believe that his mother would actually do something like this. And the most frustrating part is that there is nothing he can do about it. His mother is as stubborn as they come, even more stubborn than him, and that is saying something.

"I take it by that growl that your mother told you of her plan for your… uhm… future." A voice drifted through the silent room.

"Oh, shut up Eriol." Turning around he faced his life long friend and advisor. "What do you want?" He asked, not even bothering to ask his friend how he knew about his mother's plan, knowing that there is no chance in hell that Eriol will give him a straight answer.

Eriol smirked at the frustrated Prince Li. "Relax, your highness. I just want to let you know that the new stable manager and trainer have arrived and are waiting for you at the stables."

Li let out another sigh. "Fine, let's go meet them."

-------------------------------------------------------

Back at the stables Sakura was busy settling in her two horses, Ox, a chestnut gelding and Whisper a silvery white mare.

"Mmmm… I wonder what the prince will be like?" Sakura asked Whisper as she brushed the mare's pure white mane. "I really hope that he isn't a spoiled palace brat. Heaven knows how much I hate spoiled brats. What do you think girl? Do you think he will be a brat, or prince charming?"

"A prince yes… charming? Well that depends on what mood he is in." an elegant soft-spoken voice interrupted Sakura.

Sakura jumped with surprise and whirled around, coming face to face with the most beautiful lady she has ever laid her eyes on.

"You must be Sakura, the new trainer." Sakura just nodded since her voice decided to leave her for a moment. "Nice to meet you Sakura, my name is Tomoyo Hiiragizawa. You already met my husband Eriol."

Sakura shook her head and bowed. "It's an honour to meet you, Lady Hiiragizawa."

"Please, call me Tomoyo, I feel so old when people call me Lady and I'd like to become your friend, so no bowing either." Tomoyo smiled, her violet eyes twinkling with mischief.

"So this is where you have been hiding, my dear wife." Eriol said as he walked up to the two girls, followed by a very grumpy Prince Li. "And I see you have met Sakura. Well, my dear you sure do not waste anytime, do you?"

"You know me too well, dear." Tomoyo giggled as she hugged her husband.

Li rolled his eyes as the two lovebirds started cuddling and cooing in each other's ears. They were showing too much affection to each other for his liking. His gaze rested on Sakura, who stifled a snort at the couple's antics. He was just about to give her a good look over, when Eriol grabbed him by the arm and dragged him near.

"Your highness, this is Sakura Kinomoto, our new horse trainer. Sakura, this is his highness Prince Syaoran Li."

Sakura gave a polite bow while Li gave her the once over. Her honey coloured hair was tied in a sloppy ponytail and her T- shirt and jeans were already covered with straw and dust. "Aren't you a little young to be a horse trainer?" Li asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Sakura's head snapped up as she caught the sarcasm, her eyes glinting with anger. "Aren't you supposed to be charming?" She bit back without thinking. If there was one thing that Sakura hated the most is when people judge her by her age and not her skills.

Li took a step back, startled by her tone. No one, except Eriol, has ever talked back to him. He soon recovered soon however and a scowl covered his handsome face. "Prince Charming only exists in fairytales. This is reality."

"Yeah, well age is only an issue with people who have insecurities." Sakura stood her ground. The hell if he is a prince she will not stand here and allow him to insult her.

"How dare you insult me like that!" Li roared. "Do you know what I can do to you for insulting royalty?"

"You started it!" Sakura yelled back. "And being royalty still does not give you right to judge me. I will not stand back and let you insult me like that. I am not that kind of girl."

"Okay… ummm… I think that's enough for today. May I remind your highness that you have an urgent matters to attend to?" Eriol interrupted before the two decide to kill each other. "Tomoyo, dear, would you please show Sakura around castle grounds." He hid a smirk as he dragged a protesting Li out of the barn.

When the two were alone, Tomoyo turned to Sakura, who was still busy fuming over what Li had said. "Well, I must commend you on your performance. It's about time someone stood up to him, other than Eriol and the Queen that is." Tomoyo giggled.

"Ugh, I still can't believe he is such a jerk." Sakura muttered, her face still red from her outburst.

"Come on, forget about him, and let me show you around. You will just love it here, despite Prince Li." Sakura couldn't help but smile at Tomoyo's enthusiasm. She was glad that she met Tomoyo; otherwise it might have become very lonely.

---------------------------------------------------------

"Dammit Eriol, you can stop dragging me now! I can walk just fine, thank you very much. And you know as well as I do that I do not have any 'urgent matters' to attend to." Needless to say Li was still very much peeved about what had happened in the barn.

"As you wish, your highness." Eriol answered and let go of Li. " I only used it as an excuse so that you won't kill her. And besides you deserved that. You could have been a little more polite."

"Oh, shut up. I did not ask for your input."

Eriol just took it with stride, he knew Li long enough to know that it is the only way to deal with his stubbornness. "Then you shouldn't have made me your advisor. You pay me to give input."

"I know and I regret that decision every single day." Li ran a hand through his hair; his day so far, has been hell. First his mother threatens him with an arranged marriage, and then he met the new horse trainer, who gave new meaning to the phrase 'she is scary when she is angry.' That girl is downright terrifying when she is angry. And now he is stuck with his advisor, who finds absolute joy out of torturing him. His day just cannot get any worse.

"Oh, and your mother asked me to remind you of your dinner with Lady Lavinia this evening."

Li gave an audible groan. Okay, so he lied. His day just got worse, a whole lot worse. For you see the girl he is suppose to have dinner with is one of the biggest snobs alive and she is greedy and likes to sleep around. She is basically everything Li hates in a woman.

Eriol was about to tell him that he couldn't cancel his dinner, when they heard a few shouts from the stable workers followed by the sounds of thundering hooves, echoing through the garden. They sighed as they saw all of the horses running around the garden, lead by a small black and white pony.

"Not again." Li ran a hand tiredly through his hair. "I swear, that Spots is like a small child. We really need to change the locks on the stables"

"You're telling me… we already did it three times. And the worse is that Tomoyo encourages his behaviour, she thinks it's cute when he does things like that." Eriol shook his head and sighed. "Well, at least it's a bit of entertainment."

Li perked up with the word entertainment. "Eriol, you are a genius! That is exactly the solution to my problem."

Eriol looked at his friend as if he just grew two heads. He then saw the evil glint in Li's eyes and groaned. "Oh, no what the hell are you up to this time?"

"Eriol, I need you to cancel my dinner with Lady snob and ask her if she would like to go with me on an outing, say the day after tomorrow at about noon." Li rubbed his hands together, a big smirk gracing his features.

"Now I definitely know something's up. You would never go out on an outing with her, not unless you are forced to. What do have a planned?" Eriol asked.

"Nothing, I just thought a nice quiet horseback ride to the river bank would be a good way to get to know her. I'll ride General and she can ride Chavi."

Realisation dawned on Eriol. "Oh, that's evil, that's really evil. Brilliant, but evil."

"I know."

A/N: Okay so that is the second chapter. I hope you have enjoyed it. And there will be many more situations concerning the horses, Li and Sakura! Please review!

**AND of course a BIG thanks to those who reviewed my first chapter!**

Unfortunately I will not be able to update regularly because I have to study for tests and have some stuff that needs to be sorted out first, so please be patient and I hope you will enjoy my story.

**Enjoy your day!**


	3. Chapter 3

Taming The Wild Heart 

**Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.**

**Names of the horses and some of the training methods and descriptions of the horses belongs to Tamora Pierce, taken from her book The Immortals 1 Wild Magic**

CHAPTER 3 

Cool crisp air, a clear blue sky and everything still and calm - Sakura's favourite time of day. She stood as still as a rock in the middle of the meadow. Two beautiful young horses eyeing her wearily, pawing the ground and snorting nervously stood around her, their ears back, a sign to stay away. One of them gave a mock charge, stopping a few feet before her. Sakura didn't even blink. He backed away, his cream coloured body tense and ready for anything.

The blood bay mare just walked around nervously, not quite sure what to make of this stranger. Both horses' ears pricked forward as Sakura began to mutter something in a calm and soothing voice. She stayed where she was, watching their reactions, as she continued to mutter sweet nothings.

The mare was the first to react as she slowly walked up to Sakura. She stopped in front of Sakura and gave her a nudge on the shoulder. Sakura ignored the nudge and continued to talk to them. The mare nudged her again, this time bobbing her head up and down as she moved away, her tongue moving over her lips. A sign of acceptance. She nudged Sakura again, this time keeping her head at Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura slowly lift up her hand and let the mare smell her, before she gently touched the mare's muzzle, not once stopping with her mutterings. The mare tensed up a bit under her touch, but soon relaxed as Sakura moved her hand over the horse's head.

The gelding snorted as if disgusted by the mare's action. Sakura gently patted the mare before letting her go, turning her attention back to the gelding. "Alright you. I see you're going to play hard-to-get." Sakura told the gelding. She was a about to take a gentle step up to the gelding, to see what his reaction will be when a loud shrilling voice broke through the stillness, scaring the two horses.

"Your Majesty! It is an honour to see you again!" An over dramatic voice greeted the Queen, who was standing at the fence, watching Sakura. Sakura, who was now cursing under breath watched as the horses ran off.

"So damn close and that megaphone of a girl had to ruin it." Sakura growled under breath. She turned around and saw the Queen waving her over. Sakura sighed and walked slowly, not in the mood for miss Megaphone.

"Yes, your majesty?" Sakura bowed, ignoring the look miss Megaphone gave her.

"I just want to tell you good work. You really do have a remarkable talent with horses." Yelan praised, pointedly ignoring the other girl who was trying to get her attention.

"Thank you for the kind words, your Majesty, but I didn't really do that much. Besides I still have a long way to go, especially with Vau. He still needs a lot of work." Sakura replied with a light blush colouring her cheeks.

"Nonsense, you did great. I am truly grateful to you." Yelan smiled as Sakura looked away, trying to hide her now growing blush. "I think I should go have a talk with your father about the two week trial. From the looks of it, you don't really need it."

"Really, your majesty?" Sakura beamed as Yelan nodded. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome Sakura, now I must really get going. I have a few things to do before I can talk to your father. Keep up the good work!" Turning around she gave the other girl a tight smile and walked off, leaving Sakura with Miss megaphone.

"Excuse me…" The girl looked at Sakura, who was in her own little world. "I said excuse me!" The girl said louder, bringing Sakura back to earth.

"Yeah?" Sakura replied with a sigh. "What do you want?"

" How dare you talk to me like that! Do you know who I am?" The girl asked snippily.

"Don't know, don't care." Sakura answered as she walked past the girl.

"Well, you better start caring because my name is Lady Lavinia and my father is one of Queen Yelan's advisors and soon I'm going to be the future bride of Prince Li." The girl strutted next to Sakura in her high heels and ridiculously expensive summer dress, reminding the young trainer of a peacock.

"Nope, still don't care."

"You insolent wench! How dare you be so disrespectful. You're nothing but a lowly trainer. I will make sure Queen Yelan finds out about this."

"Listen lady, I only show respect to those who deserve it and you, my dear, do not even deserve an inch of respect. And about complaining to the queen, I really don't mind." Sakura leaned closer to Lavinia and lowered her tone. "But just between you and me, I don't think she likes you very much."

"What do you know, you're way beneath her." Lavinia snapped stomping her foot on the ground when Sakura just rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for this, I have to go meet Prince Li. And you mark my words, he will so hear about this!"

"You go do that, it's not like I care what he says anyway." Sakura smirked as Lady Lavinia stomped off. "Stupid, spoiled brat." She walked to the stable office, where her dad was busy going over some papers.

"Hello Sakura, how did the training go?" her father asked as he looked up from his papers.

"It went okay, until some snob decided to ruin it." Sakura grumbled, telling her father the story. Fujitika just chuckled lightly at his daughter's words. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going for a ride with Tomoyo. We'll be back before it gets dark so don't worry."

"Okay honey, enjoy it. I have to go see the Queen in a little while so I may not be in the office when you get back." Sakura nodded and left for the stables.

-------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Eriol had his hands full with Lady Lavinia who was desperately trying get to Li. "I am sorry, Lady Lavinia but the prince cannot see you right now. He is in a very important meeting right now. You'll have to wait until tomorrow." Eriol said trying to keep calm.

"What the hell could be more important than seeing me?" She asked as she tried to get past Eriol.

"How about watching paint dry." Eriol muttered underneath his breath. "Why don't you just come back tomorrow?" he asked out loud

"Because I have to see him NOW!"

Eriol sighed, how he wished she would just go away. Unknown to him, though, his wish is just about to come true. For you see a certain small, black and white pony with the name Spots, who pulled yet another Houdini on himself, was heading towards Lady Lavinia. Too busy complaining and yelling, Lady Lavinia did not notice when the troublemaker of all time came up behind her. That is she didn't notice until she heard a ripping sound and felt a light breeze playing on her upper thighs.

"What the he… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" She shrieked when she saw the damage Spots did.

Eriol was about to ask her what happened, when he saw a familiar piece of fabric in Spots' mouth. He really tried hard to stifle his laugh, but when Lady Lavinia turned around and Eriol saw the big gap, he couldn't control himself anymore as he burst out laughing. His laughing only got louder when about half the castle, including Li, came rushing out to see what the commotion was. At first Li frowned when he saw that it was Lady Lavinia who made a noise, but when he saw Spots with the incriminating piece of evidence in his mouth, he too started laughing.

"Ugh! This is not funny!" Lady Lavinia screeched. "That thing ruined my dress!"

Sakura and Tomoyo, who also came out to see what happened couldn't stop giggling at the sight as they watched from the stable doors. They both promised Spots extra carrots for what he did.

Li soon recovered from his laughter as he headed for the distressed girl. "My dear lady, I do apologise sincerely." He said, his fake gentlemanly manners making Sakura gag. "Please do send the bill to our administrator and we will be happy to replace it. And I promise you I would make it up to you tomorrow when we go on our lunch date."

Lady Lavinia calmed down almost instantly at the word 'date'. "It's okay, your highness, daddy will just buy me a new one." She said, her voice sickening sweet. "I will see you tomorrow then, your highness." She bowed low; making sure her… uhm… assets were clearly visible. Li gave her another fake smile and bid her farewell.

The castle soon returned to normal as everyone went on with his or her duties. Li went back to his meeting and Sakura and Tomoyo went on their outride.

----------------------------------------------------

It was early in the evening and Sakura was happily busy with her stable chores and humming a cheerful song as she did her work. "What the hell are you so happy about?" Prince Li asked as he leaned over the stable door.

Sakura shrugged. "Nothing that concerns you, your highness."

"You really are annoying. You know that, don't you?"

"And you are really grumpy. You know that, don't you?" Sakura answered.

"Whatever." He muttered and just watched as she went on with her work.

Sakura, who found this very annoying, turned to him. "Do you mind?"

"No, not really." Li smirked as she stabbed the pitchfork into the hay with more force than needed.

Sakura muttered some brightly coloured words under her breath as she viciously stabbed at the hay. She suddenly smirked as she looked at the hay on the pitchfork. She gripped the fork tighter and swung hard and fast behind her shoulder. Her smirk grew as she heard the prince let out equally colourful words as the hay hit him in the face.

"Oh dear. Did I just do that? Oh, I am soooooo sorry, your highness." She said in fake high-pitched voice. "My hand must have slipped."

"Slipped, my ass. You did that on purpose!" Li glared at Sakura.

"Temper, temper, your highness. You don't want to die of high blood pressure, do you?"

"The only thing I'll die of is the noose, for killing smartass trainers like yourself." He answered with a very suspicious glint in his eyes. Sakura gulped and dropped the pitchfork as Li let himself into the stable. "No where to run, miss Kinomoto."

"Wanna bet?" She ducked underneath one of his outstretched arms and almost made it to the stable door when two arms grabbed her around the waist.

"Now, now miss Kinomoto. It's not nice to run away." He pressed his lips against her ear in a seductive whisper. His strong voice and warm breath made her heart beat faster and her cheeks turn a lovely shade of red.

"Who said I'll play nice?" she hissed as she struggled to free herself from his strong grip.

"Who said anything about playing?"

Sakura drew in a sharp breath when she heard those words. Her cheeks grew hotter and her heart was going a mile-a-minute. She let out a scream when she felt herself being lifted over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "What the hell! Li let me down!" she yelled as she pressed her hands dangerously close to his nicely shaped butt.

"Hey, remember who you are talking to." He jerked his shoulder up into her stomach. "It's your highness to you."

"The hell with formalities. Let me down NOW!"

"Oh, so you want to go on first name basis now? You sure move fast, don't you? Before you know it we'll be giving each other pet names. How do you like to be called snoogely bear?"

"That's it. Now you are so going to pay. No one, and I mean no one, is allowed to call me pet names." Sakura growled. She took the end of his shirt and pulled it up, her face turning a new shade of red as she revealed his extremely tanned skin.

"Damn Kinomoto, if you wanted to see me nake…OW!" Li yelped as she pinched his skin hard, very hard. He dropped her on the ground and rubbed his back. "That was nails against skin!"

"Yeah? Well that was my head against the stable door, you big baby!" she yelled back, involuntary tears made their way down her cheeks as she rubbed the now growing bump on her head.

Li's eyes went wide when he saw the tears. "Geez, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Are you okay? Do you feel dizzy? Wait, how many fingers am I holding up?" He babbled as he rushed to her, checking out the bump on her head.

"Would you relax? I am fine; it's just a bump. Man, you can be such a drama queen." Sakura said annoyed as Li continued to fuss over her.

"Well excuse me for caring." Li grumbled as he lifted himself up from the ground, he held out his hand for Sakura and waited for her to take it.

Sakura shook her head at his 'sensitivity', but immediately regretted it when she felt a sharp pain run through her head. She sat still for a moment to wait for the pain to subside before she also lifted herself up with the help of Li.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Li asked, still not letting go of her hand.

"I'm sure, all I need is an aspirin and a good night's sleep and I'll be as I always am." Sakura replied ignoring the tingling feeling in the hand that Li held.

"Good, I would hate for you to turn into someone nice." Li chuckled as Sakura stuck out her tongue at him. "Very mature." He commented, secretly regretting that he had to let go of her.

"Well, you try to do better with one mother of an headache." Sakura muttered. "Good night… your highness."

"Good night Kinomoto." Li replied as he watched her walk off to the cottage she shared with her father.

"My, my. Things are getting interesting between you and the new horse trainer, aren't they?" A smooth voice interrupted Li's staring.

"Oh, shut up Eriol. Go play with Tomoyo or something." Li growled and walked off, not even sparing his old friend a glance.

"Mmmm… things are really getting interesting." Eriol smiled evilly as he watched Li storm off. "Tomoyo is going to like this very much."

**A/N: And so ends chapter 3! I do hope you have enjoyed reading it and again thank you very much for your reviews!**

**And a BIG THANKS for Tella, who is my unofficial editor for this story! **

**P.S I am not an expert in horse training so please don't take the training methods too seriously. And I will not write about what happens everyday, there will be time jumps in later chapters. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Taming The Wild Heart **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura. **

**Names of the horses and some of the training methods and descriptions of the horses belongs to Tamora Pierce, taken from her book The Immortals 1 Wild Magic **

CHAPTER 4

"No"

"Please Sakura?"

"Pretty please?"

"I said no! No, no, no, NO!" Sakura yelled. "There is no chance in hell that I'm going with them!"

"Come on Sakura, please? I will never ask you to do anything ever again, please?" Eriol begged. Yes the mighty Lord Eriol is actually begging.

"I don't care if you ask me to do anything, it's the whole you asking me on Prince Li's behalf that pisses me off." Sakura replied as she let out the last horse.

"Okay, fair enough. But Li wouldn't have asked you if he wasn't desperate."

"Gee, why doesn't that surprise me?" Sakura muttered under her breath.

"Would you at least consider it?"

"Give me one good reason why I should go." Sakura said holding a finger in the air as emphasis.

"Well I can give you two reasons, one Li will be in debt to you, meaning he would give you a favour and two, if anything should happen to lady Lavinia, which by the way I can guarantee, you would have another chance to have a go at her, which means you get a bit entertainment." Eriol looked at her expectantly.

"Okay, okay. You could have stopped at Li owing me a favour."

"So does that mean you'll go?"

"Yes, Eriol. But Li is so going to pay for it." Sakura answered. She rolled her eyes at Eriol who was trying to suppress the urge to do a victory dance. "Just go and tell him, so I can have some peace?"

"Sure, sure just don't disappear okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." She watched as he left the barn. "This is not going to be a good day."

"So what did she say? Will she go?" Li asked as Eriol approached him.

"Yes, she will go. It took a lot of begging but she said yes. You owe her big time, so I'll start thinking about way to repay her if I were you."

"I know, I know as long as I don't have to suffer alone with Lavinia, I'll do anything she asks me too."

"That can be dangerous. It is Sakura after all. "Eriol reminded him

"I know but facing Lavinia alone is worse."

"I'm not so sure about that, then again it may be to your advantage. Who knows? She may decide to actually like you…if you know what I mean."

"Why do you think I asked you to ask her? Everything happens for a reason. Beside her hands did feel great when she touched my back, at least until she pinched me."

"I knew it! You see that is why you pay me. I am a total genius."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Li asked completely confused.

"Oh nothing. You should get ready for your date. Your date starts at twelve, which means Lady Lavinia will be here by eleven."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Li groaned

"What? Would you rather be reminded of a certain horse trainer?" Eriol asked innocently.

"Oh, shut up."

-------------------------------------------------

"Well Ox, looks like I'm going on an outride with Miss Megaphone and Mr Sarcastic, whoppee dopee, doo." Sakura told her beautiful liver chestnut gelding, as she brushed his main. "At least I'm with you, right boy?" She laughed as Ox gave her a playful nudge on the shoulder. "Let's get you ready. General & Chavi are saddled up and ready to go."

"It is like soooo nice to be like able to spend time with you, your highness. I mean, I just like love horses and I have been like riding since I was five." Lavinia babbled on and on and on and on.

Poor Li could only smile and nod while he gritted his teeth in complete annoyance. He gave a small victory dance in his mind when he saw the stables and Sakura waiting there with Li's two horses and Ox standing behind her. Lavinia's eyes narrowed when she saw Sakura.

"You!" she spat out.

"Yes, me." Sakura replied and turned to Li and bowed. "Your highness."

"Kinomoto." Li turned to Lavinia. "Lady Lavinia, may I introduce you to my pride and joy." He pointed to the horses.

"Oh, yes your highness, please do, I would be so honoured!" Lavinia squealed, making Sakura roll her eyes.

Li swallowed a grimace and walked up to his two horses. "This dark brown stallion is General and the yellow stallion, which you are going to ride is Chavi. Don't worry he is gentle as they come."

Sakura let out a snort, which earned a glare from Li. She smiled innocently and mouthed "What?" with a huge smirk. She heard the real story about Chavi and he is as gentle as a crocodile at feeding time. The problem is that he is as good as Li when it come to lying.

"He is just beautiful!" Lavinia squealed yet again as she rushed up to Chavi, ignoring his ears that were flat against his head in annoyance, and she reached up to pat him. He bared his teeth and tried to nip her.

"How cute! He wants to play!" She said laughing nervously as she hastily pulled back her hand.

Sakura's smirk grew and this time Li did grimace. He sighed and turned to Lavinia, "Let me help you up, dear." He reluctantly grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up.

"Oh, you are such a gentleman." Lavinia cooed, making Sakura gag. She threw both her legs on the one side to ride side-saddled.

Li just shook his head as he mounted General. He shot a pleading look to Sakura, who was still deciding whether or not to go with them. She threw him a 'you-owe-me-big-time' glare and mounted Ox. Li smiled gratefully and walked General up to Chavi and Lady Lavinia.

"I hope you don't mind, Lady Lavinia, but I asked Miss Kinomoto to ride with us, so that she can make sure the horses behave." Li told the Lady.

"No, your highness Of course not." She replied sending a death glare to Sakura. "I fully understand, I just hope she won't be too uncomfortable."

"Don't worry Lady Lavinia, I'll be just fine." Sakura hissed. "I'll be riding a good distance away in the back."

"Good, now that is settled, let's ride." Li interrupted before a huge catfight erupts, knowing Sakura will come out the winner.

The group rode through the countryside and Sakura must admit that it is definitely worth it. The scenery was just breath taking, and she could hardly keep her mouth closed. Ox seemed to be just as awestruck; his ears were going in almost every direction as he took in the sounds. He pulled at his bit wanting to go faster, wanting to feel the green grass beneath his feet.

"Easy boy, I know you want to run, but you'll have to be patient, as soon as the two start with their picnic, you and I will go for a nice run, okay?" Sakura said, patting his neck in reassurance. Ox calmed down a bit and Sakura gave him a small nudge with her legs and coaxed him into a trot.

Every step, every minute Li thought he was going to kill himself, of Lavinia hasn't stop talking since they rode out the gate. All she talks about is herself, her hair, her clothes, and her body ugh! It is too much for Li, "How about we pick up the pace?" he suggested and the two started to canter, with Ox and Sakura behind them.

And as they cantered Sakura started to see the little bit of the true Chavi, as he pulled at his bit, his ears pointed forward, his attention away from Lavinia. They were getting close to the river and Chavi was starting to get excited.

"I hope she's not afraid of getting a bit wet." Sakura whispered to Ox, who just gave a snort in return. She turned her gaze to Li and could just make out the smirk that appeared on his face. "So this is the entertainment Eriol talked about." Sakura thought to as she nudged Ox, urging him to pick up the pace. She did not want to miss this.

They were getting near the river and Chavi started to act up a bit more, snorting and throwing up his head. He pulled at the reigns, almost throwing Lavinia off balance.

"I see he is getting a bit frisky. How about we run a bit faster, see is we can maybe run it out of him." Li suggested.

"Okay, your highness. Why not?" Lavinia answered and she loosened up on the reigns, giving Chavi space to run. It only took a minute before Chavi took the bit in his mouth and Lavinia lost every bit of control over him.

Li raced after Chavi and Sakura followed on Ox. When they finally came to the river, Chavi had started to slow down and as he walked into the water the whole kingdom heard Lavinia screech and yell.

Li stopped on the edge of the river and couldn't hold in the laughter as he watched Lavinia try to get Chavi out of the water.

When Chavi was deep enough he decided to take a nice roll and threw Lavinia off. She stood up spluttering and cursing, her hair and clothes wet and filthy with mud. Sakura joined in the laughter as she stood next to Li.

"It is not funny!" Lavinia shrieked. "That stupid horse ruined my dress and it is all your fault you stupid bitch!" she pointed at Sakura.

Li, who is very protective over his horses, did not appreciate the insult of his horse.

"That is enough Lady Lavinia. I will not tolerate such rudeness towards my horse." Li said with great authority in his voice. "It is also not Sakura's fault. Horses are an excellent judge of character and your selfish attitude will not be tolerated by them or by me. Do I make myself clear, Lady Lavinia?"

"But…but…your…highness…I didn't…"

"I said did I make myself clear, Lady Lavinia?" Li interrupted her stuttering.

"Yes your highness." She squeaked at the harshness of his tone.

"Good. I've sent someone to pick you up and I suggest you go home and not show your face in my presence again."

"Yes, your highness." Lady Lavinia said defeated.

"Wow" Sakura breathed. To say she is dumbfounded is an understatement.

Li turned to her and raised an eyebrow at her expression. "What?" he asked slightly annoyed.

Sakura just stared at him.

"What?" he asked again. Still no reaction.

"Dammit, what?" he half yelled.

"Uh, um, nothing?" Sakura replied.

"It is not nothing! Now tell me what the hell was that stare for!"

"I said nothing!" Sakura yelled back.

"Just tell me before I do something drastic to you."

"You have to catch me first!" With that Sakura nudged Ox and the two sped off.

"Ugh!" Li growled before he loosened the reigns on General and ran after Sakura.

The two raced across the open field, neither winning but neither giving up. Ox and General pulled at their reigns, both wanting to go faster.

"Let's kick it up a notch!" Li yelled to Sakura.

Sakura replied by leaning over Ox's neck taking her weight of the saddle. Ox responded immediately and burst away with newfound speed.

"Oh, no you don't." Li muttered and he let General take control, without taking the bit in his mouth. Once again the horses were nose to nose at breakneck speed. When the castle gate came into view the two riders stood in their stirrups and pulled gently on the reigns slowing down the horses. They eased them into a slow gallop then into a canter. When they came near the gate they brought the horses to a trot.

"That was amazing!" Sakura said, her face flushed with excitement, her hair wind-blown from the wild ride. The two walked side by side around the castle grounds, giving a chance for their horses to cool down.

"I agree and I think the horse had fun as well. I must say it has been a while since General had a nice run." Li answered enjoying the cool breeze that ruffled his hair. He suddenly stopped. "Oh, no" he groaned, covering his face with his hand.

"What now? Is Lavinia back?" Sakura asked quickly looking around for any sign of Lady Lavinia.

"No, worse. My cousin Meiling is here."

"Really? What's wrong with her?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Well let's just say that she doesn't like me very much and I don't like her either."

"Oooh, sounds like my kind of person. Can I meet her?" Sakura laughed at the expression on Li's face.

"It's not funny. And why would you want to meet her?" He growled.

"Firstly because she looks nice, and secondly and most importantly, she doesn't like you! What more can I ask for?"

"Women." Li muttered as he dismounted. He gave the reigns to one of the stable boys. "Please give him a good rub down and check his legs. I have to go and greet lady Meiling."

"Yes your highness." He turned to Sakura. "May I take Ox Miss Kinomoto?"

"No, that's okay I'll take care of him. Thank you anyway." Sakura replied. "Come on boy, let's get you out of the saddle and give you a good rub down." Ox let out a grateful snort and walked after Sakura.

"Hey, wait! Don't you want to meet my cousin?" Li yelled after her.

"It's okay I'll meet her later. See you!" She yelled back.

"Fine, be that way." He stomped off not at all please with being left alone with his cousin.

"Why hello, dear cousin. I was wondering when you would show up." Meiling greeted him.

Li just grumbled his greeting in return.

"Who was that girl that rode with you? Was that Lady Lavinia?" she asked.

"No Lady Lavinia had an appointment with the river and went home to dry off. That was Sakura Kinomoto, the new horse trainer."

"Oh, good. I never did like Lavinia; she was such a fake. Anyways, Aunt Yelan told me about Kinomoto, let's go meet her!" she squealed, making Li roll his eyes.

"She's in the barn, with the horses." Li replied as he led his cousin to the barn.

Sakura was just finished with Ox when she heard Li coming into the barn.

"Kinomoto."

"Yes your highness." She replied and stepped out of the stable.

"Sakura Kinomoto, meet Lady Meiling, my cousin." Li introduced.

"Pleasure to meet you my Lady." Sakura bowed.

"The pleasure is all mine miss Kinomoto." She nudged Li in the ribs.

"She's cute." She whispered in his ear making him blush. "Your children will be adorable."

"What!" he yelled.

"Oh, calm down my cousin. I was just kidding." Meiling replied, although the evil glint in her eyes said differently.

"Well miss Kinomoto, it is nice to meet you. I hope we can become friends."

Li groaned. This is not good.

**A/N: I am really, really, really sorry for making you guys wait so long for an update. It's just that I had an extremely busy month with tests and projects and everything that I really did not have time for anything else. The last time I went out was in the beginning of April so please forgive me? I hope you enjoy this chapter, as you can see it is longer than my others, I hope it makes up for the lateness. My exams start at the end of May but I will try to update in early June!**

**To pinkpearlprincess, I am extremely honoured that you want me to be part of your staff, but unfortunately I just don't have the time right now. Thank you anyway.**


	5. Chapter 5

Taming the Wild Heart 

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

**Names of the horses and some of the training methods and descriptions of the horses belongs to Tamora Pierce, taken from her book The Immortals 1 Wild Magic**

CHAPTER 5 

It is a couple of months later and Sakura and her father have settled in nicely. The barn looks better than ever and all the horses are fit and healthy. Queen Yelan's horses, Vau and Bian are coming along beautifully under Sakura's watchful eye. Although they are not yet ready to be ridden, they are a lot more obedient and their behaviour around people has improved greatly.

Unfortunately the weather decided to put a halt in any from of training as Mother Nature opened up her sky and released sleets of rain. Tomoyo and Sakura were sitting in the barn enjoying the peacefulness of the horses. After a week of non-stop rain it had now calmed down to a soft drizzle.

"So what do you want to do since it is too wet for an outride and Meiling is out on a date?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura though a bit before her eyes lit up and a mischievous smile graced her lips. She grabbed Tomoyo and ran outside. "Sakura, what on earth are you doing?" Tomoyo exclaimed as she felt the drizzle touch her skin.

"Something I haven't done since I was a little girl." Sakura laughed as she jumped into the nearest puddle and splashed Tomoyo with mud. She let out another giggle when she saw Tomoyo's shocked look. Tomoyo soon recovered though and with a yell she jumped into a puddle, right next to Sakura, covering the horse trainer with splatters of mud. It soon turned into a full-fledged puddle war and the shrieks could be heard a mile away.

Eriol and Li, who heard the shrieks and came to investigate, could only sigh and shake their heads at the two women behaving like four year olds. "Tomoyo, honey, you are getting your dress filthy, it's going to be ruined!" Eriol called to his wife.

"So? I can just make another one!" She yelled back. The two women let out another giggle as Sakura grabbed a handful of mud. Tomoyo saw this and did the same. They shared a look and the two turned towards the men. "Oh, your highness!"

"Oh, honey!" the two called simultaneously in a way too polite voice before throwing the mud. Li got hit square in the chest and Eriol sported a brown patch on his arm.

"Ha, ha miss Kinomoto, but two can play that game!" Li roared and grabbed mud, pelting poor Sakura as she tried to run away. Eriol just smirked at his wife and chased after her. Li and Sakura had started a cat and mouse game, Li is the cat and Sakura is the mouse. She tried really hard to stay out of his reach.

"Back off Li! I mean it!" Sakura threatened as she threw him with mud, giving Li the perfect opportunity to tackle her. And down they went, laughing as the hit they ground.

"You should choose your enemies better Kinomoto." Li smirked as he leaned closer to her.

"Oh really? Well I always did like a challenge." Sakura replied dunking a big load of mud into Li's shirt.

"Agh!" Li jumped up and took off his shirt, making Sakura blush at his extremely well built and well-toned body. Unfortunately she didn't get much time to admire the view before Li declared a mud war and started to chase her around again.

Meanwhile, Queen Yelan was busy watching the whole show from a castle window. "Mmmm, my, my, my. What do we have here?" I haven't seen Syaoran smiling like that in ages. Could it be that he has found love?" She asked her two handmaids.

Back behind the barn the two newly dubbed 'love birds', courtesy of Eriol and Tomoyo, were still attacking each other with mud. The four were so busy with trying to tackle each other that nobody noticed two strangers watching them.

"Oi, monster! You are going to get sick if you stay outside." One of the strangers called.

"I am not a monster!" Sakura yelled back automatically before realisation started sinking in. "Toya! You're back!" she yelled jumping up and running to her brother, completely forgetting about Li.

Li stood up and glared at Toya as he walked up to Eriol. "Who the hell is that guy?" he growled.

"Oooh, do I detect a hint of jealousy, your majesty?" Tomoyo asked innocently.

"No! I just want to know who he is."

"That is Toya Kinomoto, a captain in the royal army and Sakura's brother." Eriol answered, enjoying the look of relief on Li's face.

"Yukito! You're back as well! I can't believe it!" Sakura yelled, this time jumping on another guy.

"Is that Sakura's other brother?" Li asked.

"Well, not exactly." Tomoyo answered.

"Well then, who exactly is he?"

"Relax, your highness, no need to get jealous. That is Yukito Kinomoto, Toya's husband." Tomoyo giggled.

"Oh, good. I almost thought it was her love intr…" Li quickly shut his mouth as he realised he said that out loud. He looked at Eriol, who was about to say something. "Oh, shut up Eriol." And he walked off.

Sakura watched as Li walked away. "Just a moment." She said as she grabbed a handful of mud and threw it, hitting Li on his back. Li came to a halt and let out some colourful words, turning around slowly he glared at Sakura, who stuck her tongue out at him.

"Umm, Sakura, I think you should run." Yukito advised.

"Run Sakura!" Tomoyo yelled as Li started to run. Sakura did not wait for Li to catch up as she dashed to the cottage.

Li stopped and he watched as Sakura disappeared. "Just you wait Kinomoto, just you wait." Eriol and Tomoyo just laughed at what happened as they followed Li to the palace.

"I can't believe his flirting with my sister." Toya growled after Li, Eriol and Tomoyo left.

"Well he is the prince and he is single. At least he can provide for her." Yukito rationalised, trying to calm down his husband.

"Yeah, well being the prince is the only reason why I'm letting him live."

"You and your sister complex." Yukito laughed as he grabbed Toya's arm. "Now let's go say hi to dad."

"Yeah, yeah." Toya muttered as he allowed Yukito to drag him to the cottage.

**---------------------------------------------**

It is evening and Sakura, who is now clean and dry, is busy in the stalls making sure all the horses were settled in for the night. She was busy double-checking on Vau and Bain when she was interrupted.

"I must say Sakura, you really do have a way with wild hearts." Queen Yelan said rubbing Bian's nose.

"Well, they did all the work, I just taught them how." Sakura answered pointing at the two horses.

"I'm not just talking about the horses Sakura."

"I'm sorry your majesty, I'm not quite following?" Sakura said, confusion written clearly on her face.

"I'm talking about my son, Syaoran. I haven't seen him enjoying himself and actually laughing the way he did this afternoon. You are good for him Sakura and I am truly grateful to you."

Sakura's eyes grew wide and her face turned an interesting shade of red. "I'm good for him? Oh, dear, that's not good… is it?" She thought frantically not even noticing the queen leaving. "Ugh, I can't think straight!" she groaned.

She trudged back to the cottage, her cheeks still burning. "How the hell can I be good for a prince? And what did she mean about not having seen him laughing and enjoying himself?" She muttered underneath her breath, entering the cottage.

"Are you talking to yourself again, monster?" That is never a good sign you know." Toya teased.

"I am not a monster, and now if you'll excuse me I need to go and sort out some stuff, good night."

"What's up with her?" Toya asked his husband and father.

"Love. My little girl is in love." Fujitika answered with a knowing smile.

"Over my dead body." Toya growled.

"Now, now, remember what I said about your sister complex."

"Oh, shut up Yuki."

------------------------------------------

"I heard you had a roll around in the mud with a certain horse trainer, dear cousin. Did you enjoy it?" Meiling asked as the family sat around the dinner table with Eriol and Tomoyo.

"Not that it is any of your business, but yes, it was enjoyable to a certain extent."

"Oh, please. You hadn't had that much fun in ages! Why don't you just admit it? You like Sakura Kinomoto." Eriol spoke up, enjoying the blush on Li's face.

"Shut up Eriol, I mean it."

"Ooooh, someone's in love!" Meiling laughed and the rest joined in as Li excused himself and stormed off to his room.

He threw himself on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Stupid cousin, stupid advisor." He grumbled. "I'm not in love… am I?"

A/N: That it's for chapter 5… I know it was short, but at least it's early. Unfortunately I don't know if I will be able to update the next chapter in July because I still have to write it and I will be busy with exams and work this June. So please bear with me.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL MY REVIEWS! YOU GUYS ROCK!

Cheers!

**Tella: Hey it's me! Adding random comments into stories I did not write. Ha ha! I kind of play editor for Kayapride, seeing as she is one of my best friends. Thanks for supporting her story! Lovies Tella**


	6. Chapter 6

**Taming the Wild Heart**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura. **

**Names of the horses and some of the training methods and descriptions of the horses belongs to Tamora Pierce, taken from her book The Immortals 1 Wild Magic**

CHAPTER 6

It was early morning and Li was walking to the stables to saddle up one of his horses to go for an outride, he was also planning on asking Sakura to join him. When he entered the barn the first thing he heard was someone groaning followed by an angry mutter and the sound of hay being scraped off the floor. Curious he walked towards the noise and found Sakura next to her beautiful mare Whisper.

"Good Morning Kinomoto."

"Good Morning your highness." She answered with her back to him.

"What no insults, sarcasm or attacks with hay this morning?"

"Please your highness… I'm not in the mood okay?" She answered tiredly.

Li turned her around to face him and his eyes filled with concern. "You look tired, are you feeling okay?"

"Not really."

"Then why didn't you stay in bed today? You could have asked someone else to do the stables." Li asked.

Sakura just shrugged and went back to cleaning the stable. Li shook his head, sighing he then grabbed another pitchfork from outside and worked silently next to Sakura. When they were through Li took Sakura's pitchfork and his own, put them away, then took a hold of Sakura's arm and led her out of the stables.

"Could you let go of me please?" Sakura asked annoyed.

"No, you are going to bed and I'm going to make sure that you do as I say."

Sakura, who didn't have the strength for a fight, just settled for a death glare as Li continued to lead her to the cottage. When they arrived Sakura took out a small horse key chain and unlocked the door.

"Is your dad or brother home?" Li asked when they entered the quiet house.

"No, my dad drove to town early this morning and I have know idea where Toya and Yukito is." She answered weakly as she leaned against the doorframe.

"Will you be alright by yourself?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine, I'm a big girl, you know."

"You just keep telling yourself that." He grinned when she threw a poorly aimed punch at him. "Hmmm… you really are sick, that was even worse than a four year old with no hand-eye coordination."

Once again Sakura chose the mature way to deal with his teasing, she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Look, just get into bed, before you get so sick that you can't even use your tongue as defence against my remarks."

Wisely Sakura chose to ignore his remark and turned around to enter the house. But just as she was about to enter the house she turned around and planted a small, quick kiss on Li's lips.

Li stood there dazed, hand on his lips, he barely heard the soft thanks and didn't even see the door being closed in front of him.

"Your highness." A strong, bold voice awoke him from his trance. He hurriedly turned around to face the captain of the Royal Army and Sakura's brother, Toya Kinomoto.

"Captain Kinomoto." Li greeted back.

"Permission to speak frankly, your highness." Toya asked in a cold tone.

"Permission granted."

"Good." Toya took a step forward so that he was just inches away from Li's face. "Let's get something straight, you break my sister's heart and I'll break every bone in your body, prince or not.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand how I can break your sister's heart if we aren't even interested in each other." Li asked, slightly confused.

"Oh, come off it, even a blind guy would be able to see what's going on between you and my sister. She probably doesn't even know it yet, but she likes you and it's obvious that you like her back. So remember my warning and I promise you I will carry it out if you break her heart." With that Toya walked away, whistling some unknown tune.

Li shook his head, not really sure what just happened now but have absolutely no doubt that Toya's threat was real. "Damn, over protective brothers are scary." He walked back to the castle, deep in thought. He didn't even notice that he has entered the dining room where Eriol, Tomoyo and Meiling were busy having breakfast. Eriol was the first to notice him.

"Morning your highness. What's up? Aren't you suppose to be on an outride with Sakura by now?" He then noticed that Li was a bit white around the edges. "Whoa, what happened to you, you look a bit pale?"

"Sakura's sick and I just talked to her very over protected brother." He answered.

"Ouch." Eriol answered.

"What! Sakura's sick! What's wrong with her?" Tomoyo and Meiling yelled simultaneously.

"How should I know?" Li shrugged.

"You didn't even ask her? What kind of person are you?" Tomoyo yelled.

"Hello, I'm the guy, you're the girl, isn't it your job to find out what's wrong? Besides I was just threatened to have all my bones broken by her older brother, isn't that more serious?"

"NO!" the two women yelled once again. "But luckily, I know just what Sakura needs." Tomoyo suddenly said in a very cheerful voice that made the men wonder if she has ingested some kind of happy drug.

"And what is that?" Eriol asked.

"A nice cup of tea and her two best friends." Meiling answered, Tomoyo nodded and the two linked arms and walked out.

"Damn, those two scare the hell out of me." Eriol said. Li couldn't help but agree.

---------------------------------

Sakura groaned as she woke up from her much needed nap and rolled onto her stomach.

"Damn doorbell." She cursed as it went off again. "And damn the person ringing it." She groaned again when she realised that the person ringing the doorbell had no intention of leaving. "Ugh!" she rolled off the bed and shuffled to the front door with every intention of throwing open the door and letting the person know exactly where he should put the damn doorbell. But her anger faded when she saw the smiling faces of Tomoyo and Meiling.

"Hey guys." She greeted and stood aside to let them in.

The two women each gave her a hug and sent her back to bed, made some tea and joined her in her bedroom.

"So, how are you feeling?" Tomoyo asked as she settled down on the edge of Sakura's bed, her back against the wall.

"Better now that I have some company." Sakura took a sip from her tea and a small, satisfied sigh escaped her lips as the warm liquid soothed her body from the inside.

"Good, 'cause I am in the mood for some gossip, especially if it's about my dear, sweet cousin." Meiling smirked evilly.

"Cousin yes, adorable and sweet? Hell no." Sakura snorted.

"Oh, come on. He's not that bad, well at least not always. He does have his moments where he actually acts civilized." Meiling came in his defence.

"Yes, and what about this morning. Don't you think that was sweet of him to walk you to your door and give you some time off?" Tomoyo asked.

"He didn't walk me, he pulled me…" Sakura looked at the other's faces and sighed. "Fine, maybe that was sweet of him." Her face suddenly turned a light shade of red when she remembered what happened just before she closed the door in his face.

"Sakura? Are you blushing?" Tomoyo asked.

"No."

"Yes, you are. What happened?"

"Nothing!" Sakura replied, grabbing a pillow and hiding her face.

"Don't even think about it." Meiling grabbed the pillow away from Sakura's face and grinned. "Tell us what happened."

"I said no."

"Fine, then we'll just have to torture it out of my dear cousin."

Sakura's eyes grew wide as she heard that. "No! Please don't. Fine I will tell you, but don't you guys dare tell it to anyone else. Got it?"

The two promised and looked at her expectantly.

"Ikissedhimonthemouth." She mumbled, keeping her head down.

"What was that? We didn't hear you? What did you do?"

"I said…" Sakura took a deep breath. " I kissed him on the mouth."

"What!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"I'm not going to repeat myself… besides it was just a peck to say thank you. That's all. It didn't really mean anything."

Meiling looked at the blushing face of Sakura. "That is bull and you know it. If it didn't mean anything, why are you blushing?"

"I'm not…, no but it can't… I mean it didn't…no but it di…UGH! I can't take it! I don't know how I feel about what happened. I mean come on… we always bicker and play pranks on each other, we hate each other's guts, he's four years older than me and he's royalty for heavens sake."

"And when has that ever stopped you from becoming his friend." Meiling answered.

"But that's different. I mean at least we know where we stand with each other. Why would he become interested in me, when he can have anyone and anything he asks for? What's so special about me?" Sakura asked, her eyes showing the fear and confusion she feels inside.

"That's easy. One, you don't care about his title or the money that comes with it, you treat him as a normal person. Two, you are not afraid to stand up for your beliefs and you're especially not afraid of him. Three, your love for horses is overwhelming and Li's respects that. And four, you have a heart of gold, although it sometimes comes with a red-hot temper. The real question is why would he not be interested in you." Tomoyo answered honestly.

"I need time, I need to think about this, this is too soon. I'm sorry, but I'm really tired, I can't think straight anymore." Sakura mumbled tired and confused.

Meiling and Tomoyo left her to get some rest and to plan what the do next to get the two stubborn lovebirds together.

------------------------------------

That night, after a lot of daydreaming and not paying attention to anything at all, Li wandered off to the cottage to check on Sakura. He got to the door and rang the doorbell. Sakura's father answered the door.

"Good evening your highness." Fujitika greeted with a light bow.

"Good evening sir, I apologise for the intrusion, but is Sakura awake? I just want to find out if she's feeling better."

"That is very kind of you, your highness, but Sakura is not here at the moment. She went into the barn about an hour ago. You will probably find her with Whisper, that horse has been like a mother to her, since her own mother died a long time ago."

Li saw a flicker of sadness in the older man's eyes but it was soon replaced with fondness as he spoke of Sakura.

"I am sorry, thank you and have a good evening." Li didn't know what else to say so he just gave a polite bow and walked to the barn. When he entered he walked straight to Whisper's stall and just like Fujitika said, he found Sakura curled up tightly against Whisper, who was lying next to her. Luckily the air was warm in the stables so Sakura won't have to wake up freezing.

Sakura moved a bit and Whisper immediately moved her head closer to Sakura, who soon settled down again. Li couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of him, but soon his eyes began to droop and he became too tired to walk back to the castle, so he stepped out of the stable and leaned against the gate and fell asleep.

**A/N: I'm extremely sorry for the late update but I had one hectic holiday and now varsity has started again so I didn't have much time to write! So please forgive me! I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and once again thank you very much for all your reviews.**

**To MizEvilBlossoms, thank you for the thought but unfortunately I do not have the time to be part of your staff. **

**AND TO VICKY'S SPARKS: A VERY BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! I HOPE THAT YOU HAD A WONDERFUL DAY AND SORRY THAT I COULDN'T UPDATE IN TIME FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY! **

**Cheers**


	7. Chapter 7

Taming the Wild Heart 

**Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura. **

**Names of the horses and some of the training methods and descriptions of the horses belongs to Tamora Pierce, taken from her book The Immortals 1 Wild Magic**

**To: kawaiiauri14, please read author's note at the end!**

CHAPTER 7

"Jerk!"

"Hag!"

"Moron!"

"Ugly!"

"Egotistical!

Everyone could hear the insults being thrown from Sakura to Li and visa versa. It was great entertainment for the workers as each of them made bets of who will run out of insults first. Tomoyo, Meiling and Eriol on the other hand were completely frustrated with the two.

"It was going so well, they were so close to confessing that they like each other." Meiling sighed.

"Yeah, and then Sakura just had to wreak havoc with a permanent marker. I swear, sometimes I wonder if she ever realises that she's twenty-one and not ten."

"Well you got to hand it to her Tomoyo dear, she just knows how to push the prince's buttons without getting into serious trouble." Eriol replied.

"We need to get those two to talk to each other without insulting each other."

"That's near to impossible!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "The both of them are just too stubborn for their own good."

"But what if we put them into a situation where they wouldn't have any choice than to behave."

"Meiling, what are you up to?" Eriol asked, noticing the mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I'm not sure yet, but give me a little time and I will let you know." She grinned. "Bye, got to go and plan!"

"Poor Sakura and Li. They still wouldn't know what had hit them even after Meiling is done with them." Eriol said sympathetically.

"You are right dear, Meiling can be quite devious when she wants to be."

-------------------------------

"Are you sure it is safe to have your mare near the stallion?" one of the grooms asked as Sakura led Whisper into the training ring. "He is still a bit wild and well, he's male."

"Don't underestimate Whisper, she doesn't take nonsense from anyone, especially from males." Sakura answered, patting Whispers' neck lovingly

"Kind of like you, ay, Miss Sakura." The groomed grinned.

Sakura laughed. "I guess you are right. We're two of a kind, Sakura and Whisper, any male's nightmare… and stop adding miss to my name."

Vau stood in the corner of the ring, snorting and stomping his hoof nervously. Sakura let go of Whisper and stood to the side. Waiting patiently. Whisper walked slowly towards Vau, her posture calm and non-threatening. Vau stomped his hoof again, bobbing his head up and down.

Whisper just continued onwards until she was close to him. She let out a small reassuring whinny, her tone soft. Sakura smiled, she recognised that whinny, its' the same one that Whisper gives to her when she's sad or ill or even scared, just like a mother who sings a soft lullaby to sooth a crying child.

"That's it girl, show him there's nothing to be afraid of." Sakura whispered to herself as she watched Vau starting to relax. The two horses walked slowly away from the corner, and into the middle of the ring. Sakura didn't move. She just watched the two interact with each other.

After a while Whisper walked up to Sakura and dropped her head down for a scratch between the ears, which she received. Vau stood and watched, still a bit uncertain about the whole idea. But when Sakura took out a carrot and gave half of it to Whisper, he couldn't resist it anymore. He just trotted up to Sakura and shyly held out his head, sniffing the air.

Sakura laughed. "Looks like the saying is true to all species… The only way to a man's heart is through his stomach." She smiled as he ate the piece of carrot out of her hand; she smiled even bigger when he let her pat him and she grinned from ear to ear when she got the halter on him.

"That's bribing." A voice said behind her.

She turned around only to face Toya, who saw her giving the treat. "No it isn't, it's a training method." She answered innocently.

"Well, I guess being a monster and all you probably need all the help you can get."

"I'm not a monster!" Sakura huffed. "What do you want?"

"Easy, you're going to scare the horses with that face. Anyways I'm here to tell you that we were invited to a formal dinner with the queen tomorrow."

"What! You're kidding! Where am I supposed to get a dress in one day!" Sakura shrieked, startling the horses.

Toya rubbed his ear. "Calm down, Lady Tomoyo said to meet her after you have finished with the horses. She has a couple of dressed for you to try on."

Sakura breathed deeply and calmed herself. "Is the prince also going to be there?"

"Of course."

"Great." Sakura groaned.

---------------------------

"Ugh! That girl is… is… IMPOSSIBLE!" Li growled, frustrated.

"Calm down your highness, no need to get worked up about it." Eriol replied.

"Shut up Eriol before I do something you will regret." Li paced around his room like an angry lion trapped in a cage. He heard a knock on his door. "WHAT?"

"Is that anyway to talk to your mother?" the queen's voice sounded behind the door. Eriol almost laughed at the look on Li's face. "Sorry mother." He apologised as he opened the door.

"That's okay dear, I know how one gets after a lover's spat."

"Excuse me? I did not have a lover's spat!"

"Now dear, calm down. I need to go over the arrangements for tomorrow night."

"Arrangements? For what? What's happening tomorrow?" he asked bewildered.

"I am hosting a formal dinner party tomorrow and you have to be there."

"For who?"

"The Kinomoto's, and Eriol and Tomoyo and Meiling and her boyfriend."

"I'm sorry, mother. But I have an appointment to have all my teeth pulled out with pliers."

"Well you just have to reschedule that appointment. You are coming tomorrow."

"But why? There will be enough people there."

"You don't get it do you?"

"Get what?" Li asked frustrated.

"The seating arrangements. I'm going to sit with Mr. Kinomoto, Toya is going to sit next to his husband, Tomoyo and Eriol are going to sit next to each other, Meiling and her boyfriend is going to sit next to each other and…"

"…that leaves me and Sakura. And that is more reason for me not to go."

"Now, dear. You cannot stay mad at her forever. Just kiss and make up and forget about it."

"You're kidding right?"

"Dear you should know by now. I never kid." The Queen turned around. "Well I'm off now, I have a few arrangements to take care of. Be good."

Li and shut the door and slid down to the floor. "Great, just great."

------------------------------

It was the evening of the formal dinner and everyone was seated around the dining table. Sakura and Syaoran, still not talking to each other, moved their chairs as far away from each other as they possibly could without leaving the room. They both grumbled under their breaths when they received warning looks from their parents and moved back to their original place.

Everyone enjoyed each other's company, (except Syaoran and Sakura) and before they knew it, the food arrived and everyone started digging in. Soon it ended and everyone, full and satisfied leaned back in their chairs and relaxed.

"Your majesty, may Kimihiro and I be excused?" Meiling asked.

"Yes you may Meiling… Just don't stay out too late." The queen answered with a twinkle in her eye.

"We won't. Thank you your majesty." Meiling stood up with Kimihiro and the two walked out. The others went on with their conversations until Toya and Yukito stood up, Toya not looking too happy.

"If you'll excuse us but Yukito and I are going to turn in early, good night." Yukito said as he grabbed Toya by the hand and half dragged him towards the door.

"You know, I think Tomoyo and I are also going to retire for the night. Thank you for the wonderful dinner tonight your majesty."

"You're welcome Eriol, and have a good night."

Sakura shot a desperate look at Tomoyo as she left with her husband. Li just looked at them suspiciously, wondering what they are up to.

"Yes, well, I think I'll also turn in early." Li said as he stood up.

"You can sit back down, son. You are not going anywhere." Yelan said sternly.

"But, but everyone else could go. Why can't I?" Li asked flubbergasted.

"Because you are the host and you can only leave when the last person leaves. It is only good manners." \

"Fine."

"Now Mr. Kinomoto, you said that you need to talk to me about the horses. Why don't we go into my study and discuss it." The queen suggested.

"Thank you, your majesty." Fujitika bowed lightly and followed the queen out of the dining room.

"Finally." Li breathed as he watched his mother close the door behind her. "Now I can get away from you." He told Sakura.

"Well, don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out." Sakura replied, glaring at Li.

"Whatever." Li grumbled and walked to the door, he turned the doorknob and pulled. Nothing happened. "Damn it!"

"What? Did you forget your ego?" Sakura asked.

"The stupid door is locked."

"What? You've got to be kidding?" Sakura exclaimed, rushing to try the door for herself.

"Great, just great! Now I'm stuck here with you! Things just couldn't get any worse!" Li banged on the door. "Ugh where are all the servants?"

"Well obviously not here!" Sakura retorted.

"Shut up! I didn't ask you for your opinion."

"Well you're going to get it!"

Meanwhile in another room everyone was busy watching the argument between Li and Sakura through the monitor of the camera that Tomoyo had installed so that they won't miss the fun. Toya being the only one cheering for his sister who was trying to hit Li.

"That's my sister. You hit him nice and hard sis. That's my girl." He cheered, ignoring the glares that he received.

"Honey, if you don't stop that, you're not going to get any tonight." Yukito whispered in his husband's ear. And naturally that shut Toya up pretty quick. But he was still cheering in his mind.

"I wonder how long it will take for those two to make up?" The queen asked as she sat next Fujitika.

"Hopefully not long. I want to see my grand children before I die." Fujitika replied.

"I guess that they both got your blessings." Eriol said to the Queen and Fujitika.

"Of course, we decided it the day when all of you had the mud wars." Fujitika replied. "They are the perfect match."

Back in the dining room, now turned war zone. Li and Sakura were still at each other's throats.

"You are such an egotistical jerk!" Sakura yelled.

"And you are a annoying know it all!" Li yelled back.

"Damn straight I know it all!"

"I can't argue with you anymore. I'm tired, so shut up and let me think of a way of getting out of here." Li sat down crossed legged on the floor in a thinking position.

"Don't you tell me to shut up." Sakura grumbled, exhausted from all the screaming.

While Li thought about an escape plan, Sakura started to look around the dining room. "Um... your highness… is that supposed to be there?" Sakura asked as she pointed with her head to the camera in the corner of the room just below the ceiling.

Li looked up to where she was pointing. "No… Dammit. I should have known. They set us up."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Typical." She thought for a moment. "Wait a minute… two can play that game." She turned to Li. "How about we give them a little show?" she whispered in his ear.

"You know, when you are not annoying, you can actually act smart." Li replied.

"Yeah, yeah… so are you in?"

"Of course I'm in. What did you have in mind?"

Back in the spying room everyone was gathered around the speaker, trying to figure out what the two are saying.

"Can anybody hear anything?' Tomoyo asked.

"No, but it looks like things are beginning to get a bit cosy around the two." Toya growled. The others looked back at the screen and the girls let out an awwwww.

"Look, they are cuddling!" Meiling exclaimed. "And look, they are moving to… hey where did they go?"

"I don't know, they moved into a blind spot of the camera!" Tomoyo said frantically.

"Wait what was that?" Yukito asked.

"What was wh… Oh dear… looks like the two are indeed getting cosy… that is Syaoran's jacket that just flew across the room. And oh, dear… isn't that his shirt?" Eriol gulped.

"Well, well um I may be desperate for grandchildren but I think we need to put a stop to this before things get to far out of hand."

"Good, now I can go kill the brat." Toya growled underneath his breath.

Everyone scrambled out the room, only to walk into Li and Sakura.

"Hello everyone… enjoyed the show?" Li asked with a big smirk on his face.

"Ooohhhhh…. BUSTED" Sakura grinned.

"Ummm…. How did you get out?" Meiling asked nervously.

"Well, it seems that the lock is broken because I just had to apply a little pressure and it sprang open."

"Ummm… oops, he, he?" Tomoyo giggled just as nervously as Meiling. "So I guess this is our cue to go."

"That you would be the wise choice." Li answered.

"Okay well goodnight everyone." Eriol said and with that everyone walked off to their respected rooms.

Li and Sakura waited until they were sure they were alone before turning to each other.

"Well, Kinomoto… I got to hand it to you… that was one hell of a show."

"What… was that just a compliment?" Sakura teased.

"Oh, shut up or else…"

"Or else this…" Li grabbed Sakura and kissed her on the mouth. Sakura not knowing what else to do just kissed him back. After a while the two separated for air.

"You know this doesn't mean that I like you." Li remarked.

"Oh, shut up." And Sakura pulled him into another kiss.

**A/N: Okay, so I hope you guys liked that chapter! Sorry for the delay but things are hectic around here! We sold our house and we're moving to a new place, so our home at the moment is chaos and well the fact that I started with exams doesn't really help so… once again SORRY!!! And just so you know I will finish the story!! It is just going to take some time before the next updates!**

**_To kawaiiauri14: thank you for your review, I respect your honesty very much. But I would just like to make a few things clear about my story. _**

**_My story plays off in the present… I see I didn't really make that obvious. The reason why there is no realism to my story is because I didn't want anyone to take it seriously. While I was writing the first chapter I wrote it intending to be more realistic, but then I went through an extremely bad time, where my reality basically started to suck big time. So I started to write the other chapters as a way of escaping my reality, and I want the other readers to be able to escape to my story when they have a bad day. _**

**_But once again thank you so much for your review. And if your really like realism stories I can recommend you to read the following stories by an author named Tella: Happy Birthday To Me?, Honestly Okay (which is my personal favourite), and Apartments. Her stories are based on real situations and real emotions, so I highly recommend those stories for you. _**


	8. Chapter 8

Taming the Wild Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

_Names of the horses and some of the training methods and descriptions of the horses belongs to Tamora Pierce, taken from her book The Immortals 1 Wild Magic_

CHAPTER 8

It has been a week since the kiss and Sakura has been busy avoiding another one from that day and it's been driving Li so crazy that he even enlisted the help of Eriol, Tomoyo and Meiling. So far nothing they did seemed to work and Li was getting more desperate by the minute.

"Ugh! It is driving me insane! Why doesn't she want to kiss me? I thought it was going great? She's torturing me!!! I want that bloody kiss!" Li yelled completely frustrated.

"Calm down your highness, that's why we're here. We are going to find out why Sakura is so reluctant to kiss you again." Tomoyo answered. "And since Sakura won't tell us why she avoids kissing you, we will ask her father and her brother and his husband."

"There is no way in hell that I'm talking to her brother again. Being threatened by him once was enough, thank you. One of you can ask him." Li replied.

"That is better I suppose because he won't give you an answer anyway. Meiling you can ask him, he'll open up better if it was a woman asking him, hopefully." Eriol suggested. "Then Tomoyo will ask Yukito, but we have to get him alone. And I will ask Mr. Kinomoto."

"And let me guess, I have to take my tormentor away from the palace." Li sighed; this is going to be one hell of a long day.

"That's right my dear cousin… It is the only way we will be able to get to the bottom of this." Meiling answered with a huge smile.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Every bit of it my dear cousin."

Li sighed again as he went of searching for the horse trainer, since Sakura wasn't in the stables or at the training ring. He finally found her sitting under a tree, completely lost in the book she was reading.

"Aren't you supposed to be training the horses?" Li asked gruffly, startling Sakura.

"Geez, thanks for giving me a mini heart attack." Sakura glared, a hand on her heart, as if trying to calm it down. "And no, it is my day off."

"So, you want to go for a ride? General has been getting restless."

Sakura shook her head. "First you scare the hell out of me and now you want me to go with you on an outride? You really need to work on your manners."

"Just answer the question, for once." Li almost growled. He was having a bad… or well more like a bad week because of her and now she is actually trying to make it worse.

"Oh, fine grouch bag, I'll go with you, just on one condition." Sakura answered, rollin her eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Don't try to kiss me again… although it was quite amusing how you tried.

"So you figured it out, huh?" Li rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"A five year old could have figured that out."

"But why don't you want to kiss me?"

Sakura sighed, she knew it frustrated the hell out of him, but she needs to be sure. "Look, if you don't have it figured out by tomorrow, I will tell you. Okay?"

"Fine." Li sighed dejected.

"Good. Now let's go."

Back at the stables Eriol was busy talking with Fujitika, trying to figure out Sakura's motive. But unfortunately Fujitika either couldn't or wouldn't shed any light on Sakura's behaviour and just told Eriol that the couple will just have to figure it out on their own. And that was that.

Eriol sighed as he walked out of the manager's office. "Let's hope that Meiling and Tomoyo have better luck that I do." He sighed again.

Meanwhile Tomoyo was having a very nice chat with Yukito, although not very fruitful. Yukito, like Fujitika just said that the only way that Sakura's motives are, is to ask her personally. But at least Tomoyo got to learn a lot about Sakura and what type of girl she was when she was little and how she came to be such a pleasant yet extremely stubborn and strong minded young woman.

Needless to say Meiling was also not getting anything out of Touya, who would smirk each time he hears about how Li is suffering and Meiling had to endure a "Serves him right" comment each time she tells him how Sakura is avoiding him. In the end she stood up and told him that he had a sister complex and needs to get help, before she walked off in a huff. "Damn over protective brother."

The three of them came together in the dining room of the castle to report on their lack of answers.

"Damn that girl. If I didn't like her so much I would have slapped some sense into her before shaking the truth out of her." Meiling complained.

"I think it is more that you would have done it if you knew she wouldn't have slapped you back." Eriol muttered.

"That girl can become quite violent when angered." Tomoyo agreed, leaning against her husband. "So I guess we just have to wait and see if Li had some luck with Sakura."

It was almost dark when Sakura walked into the cottage, tired but happy. She had a great ride and Li didn't try to push her for an answer. She greeted her dad, took a nice hot shower, ate dinner and went to her room where she pulled out a thick folder with her name on it and pulled out an envelope marked LOVE. She took out the letter and read the contents before smiling somewhat sadly. She shook her head, clearing all sad thoughts and put the envelope next to her bed.

Tomorrow, Li will find out the truth.

The next Li was up early and anxiously waiting for Sakura at the stables. He had not yet figured out why Sakura avoid kissing him and today was the day she was going to tell him. So he paced around the barn, ignoring the horses that looked quite amused at his predicament, or maybe he was just loosing it.

He jumped when the stable doors opened and smiled nervously at Sakura as she entered.

"Morning" Sakura greeted fumbling with an envelope in her hand.

"Morning"

"So… can we talk in private? I already asked someone to take over my share of the chores. We really need to talk." Sakura said as she avoided Li's gaze.

"Umm, yeah… how about at the tree where you were reading yesterday?"

Sakura nodded and the two walked out of the barn and up to the tree where they sat down.

"You know that my mom died when I was little, right?" Sakura waited confirmation before continuing. "Well, she knew that she won't see me grow up, so she wrote me a lot of letters, each one about each issue that I might face as I get older." Sakura paused…

"And well, one of these issues was about boyfriends and love and all those things. And well… the reason why I didn't kiss you is because umm…" She fumbled with the envelope.

"Is because?" Li asked gently. He could see that it was difficult for Sakura and he was willing himself to be patient and gentle.

"Well, my mom wrote that if I have trouble of finding out whether a guy really likes me or if the guy is playing with me…I have to refuse to kiss him for a week… and if he is still interested even though I refuse him then I know he likes me…. And if he was just playing me… well then he would have given up the moment I refused him." Sakura was trying very hard to not blush but it was loosing battle and her cheeks gave red a new meaning.

Li just sat there stunned. He didn't know how to reply to that. He then noticed that Sakura was not finished.

"And ummm… I also did it because… well… ummm… I really like you… ummm… maybe even love you…"

Li stuttered at the love confession… 'Damn!' He thought. 'I wasn't expecting that!' He kept quiet as he thought this through. He thought about all the things that happened since the day she and her father moved into old cottage, her stubborn attitude, the way she treated him as a normal person and not as royalty, the way she handled the horses and any challenges that came her way. Did he love her as well?

'HELL YES!' his mind screamed.

"Sakura, please look at me?" Li put a finger under her chin and gently lifted her head so that their eyes can meet. "I love you too." He whispered.

Sakura's breath caught in her throat. He was serious. This wasn't some joke.

"So, now that you are finally breathless because of my charm… may I kiss you?" Li asked. Pulling Sakura out of her trance.

"Idiot." She snorted. "And yes… you may kiss me."

"About damn time." Li growled before claiming her lips in a passionate kiss.

Neither noticing the video camera and the smirk behind it.

**A/N: Before you kill me… I apologise for this extremely late update. I had a very tiring semester so far with a lot of emotional roller coasters so please forgive me!**

**I apologise for the short chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. The story is almost finished and I will try my best to update sooner!**

**Reviews and constructive criticism is welcome… flames will only make my review counter look good. **

**AND NOW ****A BIG THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO REVIEWED MY PREVIOUS CHAPTER! And a very special thanks goes to Tella and Hannelie, thanks for sticking with me!!!!**


	9. Chapter 9

Taming the Wild Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

_Names of the horses and some of the training methods and descriptions of the horses belongs to Tamora Pierce, taken from her book The Immortals 1 Wild Magic_

Warning: There is a little bit of boy x boy kissing… if you don't like it don't flame me… just skip that part or don't read the chapter at all… it is just a filler chapter anyway…

CHAPTER 9

"It is about damn time" Queen Yelan smiled as she watched the love confession of Li and Sakura on the tape that Tomoyo took.

She wasn't the only one who was happy, Tomoyo, Eriol, Meiling and Yukito actually cheered when the two kissed. Fujitika just smiled a proud smile while Toya just kept grumbling on about 'brat', 'heartbreak' and 'painful death'. All in all it was a very good day for everyone.

"I was so worried he was never going to get married." Queen Yelan said as she and Fujitika celebrated their success with champagne.

"You weren't really going to arrange a marriage for the prince, were you?" Fujitika remarked, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses.

Queen Yelan laughed. "No, not really, but…" She leaned forward and whispered. "…he doesn't have to know that."

"So now that the love confession is over, all that remains is the wedding." Tomoyo remarked with stars in her eyes.

"Uh… Tomoyo, honey… aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself?"

"Of course not dear husband, besides it is always better to be prepared." She turned to the Queen and Fujitika. "So where do we start?"

"No where. We start no where. My sister is too young to get married, there is no way in hell that Li, prince or not, is going to propose to her now." Toya spoke up angrily and stormed out of room, leaving everyone quiet with shock.

"He rally does have a sister complex, doesn't he?" Meiling sighed.

"He is just protective over his sister, that's all. I'll go talk to him." Yukito smiled softly and walked off to find his husband.

After searching the castle and speaking to a number of servants, Yukito finally found his husband at the paddock watching the horses graze peacefully.

Yukito walked to Toya and wrapped his arms around Toya's waist. Toya tensed for a moment before relaxing in the embrace.

"You okay?" Yukito asked softly.

"No, not really." Toya answered gruffly, his eyes staring off into the distance.

"You know you can't really stop Sakura if she wants to get married, it is her choice after all."

"I know that… It's just… It's just that it is happening too fast. She's growing up just too fast. I don't like it."

"I know you don't hon, but there is nothing you can do about it. You can't protect her forever you know."

"Yeah, I know. I still don't like it though." Toya turned around so that he could face his husband. "You do know that it is extremely annoying when you are right all the time."

Yukito laughed. "Yet still you love me."

"Just like you love me." Toya replied and leaned in for a kiss.

"Yes, even if you do have a sister complex."

Toya growled at the statement but was quickly silenced as his husband came in for a kiss.

Meanwhile back at the castle, wedding arrangements were in full swing.

"So I will be in charge of the wedding gown and bridesmaids' dresses, don't worry Mr. Kinomoto, with your wife's wedding dress and my touch, Sakura will look like and angel." Tomoyo smiled as she wrote down everyone's names and their duties.

Meiling shot up her hand like a school kid. "I will do the catering and seating arrangements and Eriol will be in charge of the tuxedos and rings."

"And I will handle the horses. Sakura will not get married if the horses are not present, especially Whisper." Fujitika chipped in.

Queen Yelan cleared her throat. "I will be in charge of the announcements, the flowers and the ceremony itself."

"And we will be in charge of the toasts, who says when and that sort of thing." Yukito added as he and a much calmer Toya entered the room.

"Good, then it is settled." Queen Yelan stood up and made her way to the door. "Now all we have to do is to wait for my son to propose."

**A/N: Hey all you people!! How's it going? This was the second last chapter for this story, I know it is short but it is more like a filler. I wanted to see if I can get a bit more of how Toya feels about the whole thing across, so I played around with this idea. I hope you liked it! And yes, I have started writing the last chapter so hopefully the next update won't be too long!**

**Love you lots**

**Like tequila shots!**


	10. Chapter 10

Taming the Wild Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

_Names of the horses and some of the training methods and descriptions of the horses belongs to Tamora Pierce, taken from her book The Immortals 1 Wild Magic_

I would like to dedicate this story to my two most precious friends, who stuck by me through thick and thin. Thank you Tella and Hannelie.

CHAPTER 10

It has been four months after Li and Sakura's love confession, and things were… well lets just say that there was never a dull moment with Li's sarcasm and Sakura's spitfire temper.

And all hell broke loose the day that Lady Lavinia decided to show up, with her father, at the castle door. Her father was there at the Queen's invitation, after all he does some advise the Queen now and then on certain matters.

But Lady Lavinia was there to see if she can reconcile with her 'dear' prince. So when her father went to talk business, she went to the barn to find Li, not noticing that the servants were watching her every move.

"She what!" Li and Sakura yelled simultaneously.

"Lady Lavinia is here looking for you, your majesty."

"Ugh, that damn bitch, thinking she can come here and steal my man. The nerve of that woman!" Sakura grumbled. "What she needs is a good punch."

"Now, now Sakura, calm down." Li soothed, hugging Sakura to keep her from committing murder. "I have just the thing to make her go away screaming."

Lavinia smirked to herself as she entered the barn in her short, short skirt and her extremely over revealing top. "_There is no way he can resist me now_." She thought.

"Oh, you tease, stop that." A giggle could be heard. Lavinia stopped short. She heard that voice before, but she can't seem to place it.

"But you're so tasty and irresistible." A man's gruff voice replied. It was too soft to make out who it was, so Lavinia decided to investigate a bit further.

"_If I can capture the two red handed, and hand them over to Prince Li, he may just like me again after all it is not very decent to frolic in the barn_." Lavinia nodded to herself and sneaked up on the pair.

Giggling again, followed by what may be a zipper being opened, followed by a very, very pleasurable gasp.

"Ooooh… right there you hunk."

"You like that, don't you, you minx?"

Lavinia smirked evilly as she stopped just outside the stable door. She mentally counted to three, before throwing open the stable door to reveal…

"AAAAAGH!" She screeched. "YOU!"

"Yes, me." Sakura smirked over a half naked Li's shoulder, deliberately kissing his neck, smirking even more as Li shuddered with pleasure.

Li turned around and moved Sakura so that she was in front of him, back to chest, he held her close.

"Oh, Lady Lavinia, you remember our horse trainer Sakura Kinomoto, don't you?"

Sakura giggled as Li brushed his lips over her ears.

"Well, we have become very, very close." Emphasising each word with a kiss on Sakura's neck.

Lavinia just stood there in shock, her mouth open like a fish out of water.

"So, is there any particular reason for your visit?" Li asked, almost innocently. They grimaced and covered their ears as Lavinia let out a wail and ran out the barn.

"I think that will keep her away, don't you?" Li smirked

"I hope so, because if she shows up again, I'm going to get rid of her my way. Got it?" She answered turning around so she could face Li. "Now put on your shirt and let's go for a ride."

"Yes, dear."

Back at the castle, Lavinia's dad busy comforting his wailing daughter without even knowing why. Queen Yelan just raised an amused eyebrow.

"What is it honey? Did something happen?" Her dad asked her.

"It's… it's that Kin… Kino… Kinomoto girl." Lavinia sobbed.

"Sakura? What did she do?" The Queen asked politely but not sincerely.

"She… she… she ruined everything!" Lavinia wailed loudly and the sobbing started all over.

Her father just looked confused as he tried to comfort his daughter.

"What did she ruin darling?"

"She… she… stole Syaoran from me!" Lavinia gave a small hiccup, not even noticing the irritated look on Queen Yelan's face.

"It is not called stealing if she took something that you did not have in the first place." The Queen said in a stern voice.

"Your majesty?" Lavinia exclaimed confused. She though the Queen liked her and would take her side. Her father just wisely kept his mouth shut.

"You heard me. My son left you a long time ago, meaning he does not like you, and wants nothing to do with you." The Queen stood up and walked up to Lavinia. "And if you ever insult Sakura like that again, you will answer to me. Am I clear?"

Lavinia hiccupped again. "Yes, your majesty."

"That will be all." The Queen dismissed them both.

The ground thundered underneath the hooves of Bian and Vau. After Sakura's careful training, those two were the most well behaved horses in the palace. They also developed their own unique personalities. Vau is an extremely high spirited, curious, loveable gelding, and Bian is more reserved but just as curious and lovable as Vau.

Li urged Vau on as Sakura and Bian came neck on neck with the two males.

"Is that all you got, your majesty?" Sakura yelled, deliberately adding the 'your majesty'.

"Not by a long shot Kinomoto!" Li yelled back. "Oh and Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you marry me?" Li smirked as Sakura's mouth fell open with surprise. He took this as an opportunity to run past her.

"Dammit Li! That is no way to propose to a girl!" Sakura yelled angrily, catching up to Li again as he started to slow down.

The castle gates were just ahead and the horses slowed down to a canter, then a trot and finally to a walk.

"So, do I get a yes?" Li asked after they dismounted the horses and gave the reigns to the grooms.

"What, are you stupid as well as unromantic?" Sakura giggled at the glare Li gave her. "Of course it's a yes."

Li laughed with joy as he grabbed Sakura and held her close.

And so is the end of the story and the beginning of your imagination…

**A/N: And that is that. Hope you all enjoyed it! And Thank you for all the reviews you guys gave me! You all ROCK! **

**And before anyone asks… no there will be no wedding scene and no sequel. **


End file.
